“Dry water”, which is the name currently given to a water droplet encapsulated in silica particles, is currently produced using batch processing, whereby a fixed ratio of silica and water are added to and mixed in a mixing chamber. The resultant product is a silica-encapsulated water based product that is 90% to 95% water by mass. Batch processing has limited the production of dry water to the laboratory scale. FIG. 1 illustrates a schematic of a dry water particle 100.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,008,170 describes a batch processing method for producing dry water. The patent also mentions that dry water may be useful for fire suppression, but it does not disclose how it may be applied to a fire. Furthermore, batch produced dry water using conventional methods can result in phase separation when the dry water is flowed through a conduit or orifice. In addition, when stored dry water is exposed to ambient air, the water evaporates over time.
Thus, there is a need in the art for improved systems and methods for producing dry water.